It is a primary objective of surgery, whether open or through the use of minimally invasive techniques, to reduce the duration of the procedure and minimize blood loss, the risk of infection, and other bad side effects. With the advent of new surgical equipment, additional equipment and technologies are incorporated into the procedure with the primary purpose of improving the efficacy of the procedure. Incorporation of new equipment and technologies into procedures sometimes complicates things by requiring the surgeon to access additional control components. In open surgery, the surgeon's field of view typically includes only the surgeon's hands and not the surgeon's feet. Alternatively, during minimally invasive surgery, the surgeon's attention is typically focused on a video display of the surgical site. Here, the surgeon's own hands and the control components they operate are likely outside his or her field of view. If the surgeon seeks to locate a control component outside his field of view, the surgery must be interrupted, however briefly, to permit the surgeon to turn away from the surgical site. Such interruptions and distractions disturb surgical work flow, and increased procedure duration or even patient harm may result. Improved systems and methods are needed to allow a surgeon to easily access various surgical equipment control components while minimizing impact on surgical work flow.